What should you do if your children encounter material online that makes them feel scared or uncomfortable? Even if your children follow all of the guidelines you've established, it's still possible that they might encounter inappropriate material online. Your kids should always feel comfortable about telling you what they've seen. Try not to respond in a way that blames them. They should understand that encountering this kind of material is not their fault. What to do with inappropriate online material depends in large part on its delivery format:
Web sites: Remind your child of the use of the "back" button. If they come upon a site that isn't what they'd expected, he/she should click "back" immediately and then come tell you what happened. If a web site is misrepresenting itself, complain to the creator of the site. > >
Email: If your child receives an email message from an unfamiliar address, they shouldn't read it and should tell you about it. If it's something inappropriate and unsolicited, request of the message's source that they delete your child's email address from their database. If this becomes an ongoing problem, complain to your Internet service provider.
Chat Rooms: We strongly recommend that you actively monitor your children while they participate in online chats (more so than any other online activity). Yahoo! Chat users have the ability to Ignore specific chatters, which helps to prevent any one chatter from becoming an ongoing problem for your child. Additionally, you can control the language your child sees with the Language Filter. > > Also explore the options provided by moderated chats. Inappropriatemessages are uncommon in moderated chats. If there are any problems, an email to the moderator usually takes care of the offender immediately. (All chats listed in the Yahooligans! directory are moderated and specifically designed for children). Additionally, whether moderated or not most chat rooms have an email address you can use to complain about someone offensive, and many allow you to block incoming messages from a specific user.
What Should I Do If....
What should you do if your children encounter material online that makes them feel scared or uncomfortable? Even if your children follow all of the guidelines you've established, it's still possible that they might encounter inappropriate material online. Your kids should always feel comfortable about telling you what they've seen. Try not to respond in a way that blames them. They should understand that encountering this kind of material is not their fault. What to do with inappropriate online material depends in large part on its delivery format: